18 October 2013 – The two-day conference on “Civil-Military relationship in Guinea-Bissau” ended today. The 120 participants concluded that there is a need to take actions that would contribute to fruitful civil and military relationship.

The conference recommended that there is a need to support the rebuilding of the state as premise for better working of the state institutions, including defense and security forces. In this regard, it was recommended that national defense legislation including armed forces and security forces legislation be thoroughly reviewed in order to update existing and devising non-existing and needful piece of legislation such as the Military Discipline Law.

It was also recommended that the National Defense Institute be supported fully in order to strengthen its role as a platform of permanent dialogue between the civilian and the military which should be made regular and reaching. Also, a mass campaign to sensitize and disseminate the mission of armed and security forces be carried out as a mean to ensure the entire population know about the do’s and don’ts of members of the Armed Forces.

At the closing ceremony, SRSG José Ramos-Horta told the participants: “you have a unique opportunity- an open window, for elections to be held, form a new government, but an inclusive government. Guinean brothers must abandon the culture of the past that is of the winner takes it all and the loser loses all and is treated like a secondary class citizen. “The party that wins will invite the second, the third and fourth, and the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister will collaborate” he added.

Concerning the army, Mr. Ramos-Horta said the army stays in barracks where it takes care of its men and women. If it doesn’t interfere with politics, nobody will criticize it. But if you enter into politics, you become vulnerable. If the military is really neutral, they should be in the barracks applying the constitution, meaning defense of national borders, the sovereignty of the country, territorial integrity and the people will follow because the existing consensus within the people is that “our independence is untouchable, sacred”. Armed forced exist for that, Mr. Ramos-Horta explained.

The conference was organized by the National Defense Institute and supported by UNIOGBIS through its Rule of Law and Security Institutions (ROLSI) Section in association with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Africa Union (AU). The conference aimed to assess and secure a common understanding of civil military relationship, its nature and usefulness for modern and democratic Armed Forces; To identify ways and mechanism of civil military relations useful to the National Defense Policy of Guinea Bissau and propose themes and dynamics of civil military relations feasible to the regular updating of National Defense issues including through research and informed inputs.

The 120 civilian and military participants are well versed in issues of National Defense including the process of reforming Security Sector. Parliamentary Defense Matters Commission, research institutes representatives, relevant university faculties and political parties’ representative also attended. They welcome this initiative…

The political instability of Guinea Bissau had resulted in failure on the part of the government to reform the Armed Forces and Security Institutions institutional failure to currently and regularly assess, research and inform updates of National Defense interest including the Military-Civil relations to that purpose.

Although a National Defense Institute (NDI) was established in 2008 with a “...scientific, pedagogical, cultural, administrative and patrimonial autonomy…” and mandated to among others “study, investigate and disseminate national defense problems in view of developing pedagogical, clarification and sensitization activities”, it has not been operational despite gaps within the Security Sector and the Armed Forces which require clear assessment including Military Legislation, Defense Policy which in the whole are important components for civilian overrule of the security institutions and hence elements for improved Civil-Military relationship.

Taking a leading role and within its mandate of strengthening national institution, UNIOGBIS supported the rehabilitation of the premises of the National Defense Institute in 2012 and coordinated with the African Union and ECOWAS who provided equipment to the National Defense.

UNIOGBIS mandate has been established pursuant to Resolution 1876 (2009), 1949 (2010), 2030 (2011) and 2103 (2013) which allow the Rule of Law and Security Institutions (ROLSI) Section to strengthen rule of law among the armed forces.